End Forced Sterilization of Tibetan Women
- by: Ben Edwards
- recipient: Hu Jintao, President of the Peoples Rebublic of China
Throughout Tibet, young Tibetan women, younger than the age of thirty and have never had a baby, are being forced to have their fallopian tubes surgically tied without a say in the matter. According to the Tibetan Women's Association, twenty percent of Tibetan women have been sterilized without their consent. This procedure is done without anesthetics and women are under severe risk of infection. Women who survive this undergo countless life-long physical and psychological damage, including depression, infection and increased rates of suicide. The population of Tibet is at severe risk due to these practices. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes having the freedom to decide the number of children a women has and the spacing between them to be a fundamental human right. The forced sterilization of Tibetan women has to STOP.
Throughout Tibet, young Tibetan women, younger than the age of thirty-years old and who have never had a baby, are forced to have their fallopian tubes surgically tied without a say in the matter. According to the Tibetan Women's Association, twenty percent of TIbetan women have been sterilized without their consent. This procedure is done without anesthetics and women are at high risk of infection. Women who survive this procedure undergo numerous life-long physical and psychological trauma, including depression, infection and increased risk of suicide. The people of Tibet are at severe risk of being wiped out completely if this practice continues. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes womens right to decide the number of children they have and the spacing between them. The forced sterilization has to STOP.
